उपनिषद् · Bhāvanā p42
॥
देवनागरी
देहशून्यप्रमातृतानिमज्जनं बलिहरणम्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
dehaśūnyapramātṛtānimajjanaṃ baliharaṇam
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
देह-शून्य-प्रमातृता-निमज्जनंdeha-śūnya-pramātṛtā-nimajjanaṃthe immersion of bodiless cognizing-ness
बलि-हरणम्bali-haraṇamis the offering of a portion
अनुवाद
The immersion of bodiless cognizing-ness is the offering of a portion.
संस्करण
6ddee1bff40e · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Bali is an offering carried outward: a portion of food set apart and placed outside the threshold — for spirits, for birds, for whoever comes. This custom is alive in India to this day and is, in essence, a universal one: wherever people eat, they set aside a portion somewhere for those not at the table. The reinterpretation here again is inward: nimajjana, "immersion," of the cognizer — that is, the disappearance of one's own separateness.
It is worth saying a word about the custom itself, however, for it exists in Vaiṣṇava rules too, and is grounded simply there. A householder is enjoined pañca-sūnā, atonement for five destructive acts: hearth, millstone, mortar, broom, and water-pot — by all of them he unwittingly destroys small life daily. And so it is commanded to set aside a portion: for birds, dogs, ants, a stranger.
This thought, to my mind, is among the soberest in the whole law there. It is not said that one can live harming no one — it is said that one inevitably harms, and therefore must set something aside. This is not an indulgence and not a calculation: it is an acknowledgment that a person lives at another's expense, and that this acknowledgment must be expressed in something daily, not in feelings.
It is worth noting too that in this sequence, bali comes after the prostration, that is, at the very end. One bows to the One who has come; the portion is carried out for those who have not come and were not invited. This order is usual in the rite and speaks for itself.